Widower Vern Albright (Charles Farrell) has his hands full with headstrong daughter Margie (Gale Storm) in the popular 1950s situation comedy, My Little Margie.

My Little Margie remains one of the most endearing TV sitcoms of the Fabulous Fifties. Starring Gale Storm and Charles Farrell, with Clarence Kolb, Hillary Brooke, Gertrude Hoffman, Don Hayden and Willie Best in able support, My Little Margie produced 126 half-hour episodes from 1952-55.

Characters Created by Frank Fox

My Little Margie was based on characters created by Frank Fox, who with G. Carleton Brown penned the show's first episode. The moving force behind the series was Hal Roach Jr., who took Fox's characters and began casting his new TV sitcom in early 1952.

My Little Margie Cast

The first cast member signed was Charles Farrell (1901-1990), who was talked out of retirement by Roach to play the 50-year-old widower, Vern Albright. Next on board was Gale Storm (born Josephine Owaissa Cottle on April 5, 1922), a spunky B-movie actress who agreed to play the 21-year-old Margaret "Margie" Albright at a salary of $750 a week.

Eventually joining Farrell and Storm in the cast were Clarence Kolb (1874-1964) as George Honeywell, Vern's boss at the investment-counseling firm of Honeywell & Todd; Hillary Brooke (1914-1999) as Roberta Townsend, Vern's independent-minded girlfriend; Gertrude Hoffman (1871-1966) as Mrs. Odetts, the Albright's spry, elderly neighbor; Don Hayden (1926-1998) as the bow tie-wearing Freddie Wilson, Margie's no-account boyfriend; and Willie Best (1913-1962) as Charlie the elevator operator.

Began as Summer Replacement Series

My Little Margie was developed by CBS as a summer replacement series for I Love Lucy (1951-57). As was the practice back then, a regular series would run for 39 weeks and then exit the airwaves for a 13-week summer vacation. A replacement show was then brought in, with the regular series returning in the fall with new episodes.

As a summer replacement series, great things were not expected of My Little Margie. Consequently, only nine episodes of the new show were ordered by CBS.

My Little Margie Debuts

My Little Margie made its television debut at 9 PM (ET) on Monday night, June 16, 1952, with the episode "Reverse Psychology." In New York City that evening, My Little Margie aired on WCBS-TV, with Lights Out (WNBT), a military band concert from Ft. Dix (WABD), news and boxing (WOR-TV), feature films (WATV), the 1944 movie Men On Her Mind (WIZ-TV) and Ted Steele - Music (WPIX) providing the competition.

"As summer replacement for the top-rated I Love Lucy, Philip Morris has bought a new Hal Roach vidpix series, which is purportedly a situation comedy titled My Little Margie," reported Variety (6/18/52). "But judging from the initialer last Monday night, the show will gain nowhere near the record audience that Lucy drew consistently during the regular season."

Classic Episodes, Guest Stars

My Little Margie, replete with harmless gags, slapstick humor and a certain wide-eyed innocence and charm, caught on with viewers. In its four seasons on CBS and NBC -- and in subsequent syndication in the 1950s and '60s -- the series managed to attract a loyal group of followers.

Among the show's best episodes were "Margie's Sister Sally" (Margie impersonates her "older sister" for one of Vern's clients); "Vern's Chums" (Vern hires a pair of vaudeville performers to scare off Freddie's parents); "Hollywood Trip" (Margie tries to get discovered in Tinseltown); "En Garde" (Roberta hires a French actor to make Vern jealous); "The Kangaroo Story" (Freddie acquires a pet kangaroo); and "Mr. Uranium" (Vern and Margie search for a reclusive millionaire).

Guest stars featured on My Little Margie included Fess Parker, Alvy Moore, Emil Sitka, John Lupton, Irving Bacon, Keye Luke, George Nader, Billy Gilbert, Harry Hayden, Dian Fauntelle and Jack Bailey. Phillip Bonnell, Gale Storm's eldest son, made his television debut in the episode "Dutch Treat" (5/26/54), playing the part of Bob.

My Little Margie Trivia

Set in New York City, the Albrights resided on Fifth Avenue at the Carlton Arms, Apt. 10A. Their phone number: Carlton-38966.

Vern Albright held a commission in the Naval Reserve.

Honeywell & Todd's phone number: Dunbar-38362.

Margie often smoked cigarettes on the show. Not unusual for the era, especially given the fact that Philip Morris was the sponsor.

Hal Yates, an extremely tough and demanding professional, directed 124 of the 126 episodes.

The show's playful theme song, "Bows and Strings in Teasing," was composed by Alexander Laszlo.

The radio version of My Little Margie ran on CBS Radio from 1952-55. The cast: Margie Albright (Gale Storm), Vern (Charles Farrell), Mrs. Odetts (Verna Felton), Freddie (Gil Stratton Jr.), George Honeywell (Will Wright).

All 126 episodes of TV's My Little Margie are available on DVD.

Well, that's My Little Margie...